The story of ECSP’s own John Thon Majok was the most read last month. The rising number of displaced people around the world is an immense tragedy, he writes, but refugees also depict the “maximum example of the human capacity to survive despite the greatest losses and assaults on human identity and dignity.” The concept of “refugee resilience” can help people see the strengths in those that survive such ordeals and give hope to those struggling through it.

In most parts of the world, population growth is stagnant, even declining slightly, part of a decades-long and nearly universal shift towards smaller, healthier families. But the places where growth is still rapid continue to defy expectations about when they will “catch up.”

Wildlife trafficking has exploded in recent years and now contributes significant funds to major criminal organizations and even terrorism. That puts it squarely in the realm of national security, according to a research project by the University of Texas, Austin. Cameron Lagrone and Josh Busby explain the connection in last month’s most popular post.

Pope Francis sparked worldwide discussion and jubilation among many green advocates after releasing Laudato Si, the first Papal encyclical to focus directly on the environment. The pontiff touched on everything from pollution and sustainable development, to anthropogenic climate change and water security in his 180-page missive.

At the launch of A New Climate for Peace, a new report on climate-fragility risks produced for the G7 by a consortium of international partners including the Wilson Center, USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator Christian Holmes called water a common denominator for climate risk.

In their first annual report, the ResilientAfrica Network (RAN), a partnership of 15 African universities, Tulane University, Stanford University, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies, outlines efforts to explore and define multiple “pathways of vulnerability” in sub-Saharan Africa. The report acknowledges that these pathways can be very different from place to place, but by working with African communities more closely, they hope to find new ways to break cycles of chronic crisis. One of the interventions piloted by Stanford was “deliberative polling,” which is  based on the premise that communities are more likely to respond to development interventions if they understand the logic behind them and are involved in the process.

Between the Sahara to the north and savanna to the south lies the semi-arid Sahel, a region stretching from Senegal to Sudan that has experienced desperate poverty, climate change, malnutrition, and violence. While every context is different, the Sahelian countries share some common challenges, including a pattern of recurring crises and fluid borders. Boko Haram’s reign of terror in northern Nigeria and Mali’s coup have both had cross-border components. [Video Below]

Psychological disorders following childbirth are incredibly common among women around the world, but are routinely ignored. It’s a “topic that has had to work hard to provide evidence about its fundamental importance,” said Jane Fisher at the Wilson Center. A Maternal Health Initiative panel on so-called perinatal common mental health disorders was the most popular story on the blog last month.